simond's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jimmypat's review against another edition
2.0
This is the third book in a series I am calling “quarantine life.” With all of our public libraries closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, I have turned to my bookshelves and the books that I haven’t read yet.
On the surface, this book is a hard one to rate: it approaches 4 stars with the absolutely incredible writing. However, it slums in the one star arena due to the sheer unpleasantness of the main character who also is a representation of the author, which further tarnishes this work. So, 2 stars it is.
Roth is about two things: himself and his penis. Everything else pales in comparison to Roth and his needs. While I think he thinks he is writing in a candid, honest, and truthful way, Roth is just limited to the physical and banal. There is no transcendence here, no true art..... Roth just rolls in his filth and wonders why he is so unhappy.
On the surface, this book is a hard one to rate: it approaches 4 stars with the absolutely incredible writing. However, it slums in the one star arena due to the sheer unpleasantness of the main character who also is a representation of the author, which further tarnishes this work. So, 2 stars it is.
Roth is about two things: himself and his penis. Everything else pales in comparison to Roth and his needs. While I think he thinks he is writing in a candid, honest, and truthful way, Roth is just limited to the physical and banal. There is no transcendence here, no true art..... Roth just rolls in his filth and wonders why he is so unhappy.
jackb's review against another edition
4.0
A little different in terms of structure, two short stories, which are meant to have been written by the character in the second part of the book. Not his most loved but some of Roth's best work, full of humor and wit, very well written.
thepackham's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
veryperi22's review against another edition
3.0
December 2020:
Revisiting Roth, I gave this another go and am glad I did.
Impetus was the Wikipedia entry mentioning that Maureen Tornipol was fashioned after Roth's exwife, Margaret Martinson.
September 2018:
Gave up.
Incoherent and boring. Not the introduction to Nathan Zuckerman that I expected
Revisiting Roth, I gave this another go and am glad I did.
Impetus was the Wikipedia entry mentioning that Maureen Tornipol was fashioned after Roth's exwife, Margaret Martinson.
September 2018:
Gave up.
Incoherent and boring. Not the introduction to Nathan Zuckerman that I expected
emmayoung95's review against another edition
challenging
funny
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jacob_longini's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I don't know that such a problematic book has ever had as strong a hold on me, and I say that as someone who loves Hemingway. Despite being replete with unforgivable moments of patriarchal commentary, abuse, and all manners of lowliness, Roth's novel was like a car crash - I couldn't look away. I felt deep resonances with the main character while being repulsed by his thinkings and doings - while his actions are reprehensible, his pain is all too relatable. The manner in which the story jumps around also appealed to me. It didn't occur chronologically, but in out-of-order reflections on plot events. (There were also a few sections on Nathan Zuckerman, whose series I feel compelled to read next). Repulsed, but enraptured - Jacob.
P.S. While the Jewish dimensions of Roth's fiction (as I understand them) are only glanced upon in this novel, the little presence they had excites me to see how Judaism is treated more fully in later works.
P.S. While the Jewish dimensions of Roth's fiction (as I understand them) are only glanced upon in this novel, the little presence they had excites me to see how Judaism is treated more fully in later works.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Racial slurs
muffmacguff's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I really did not enjoy this, except for maybe a small handful of moments. I had previously only read Portnoy's Complaint and Goodbye, Columbus of Roth's and like Portnoy's Complaint this felt so rambly and unfocused, like reading a first draft (which I don't think is the case! I just think he wrote like that? It made more sense in Portnoy's Complaint because the book was meant to feel like a monologue) and it definitely had Portnoy's Complaint's misogyny without even the misogynist dirty jokes of that book. It feels like a quintessential novel of its time, it's literally about a college professor/writer who hates his wife and fucks students. In this case, the book appears to be heavily autobiographical, and the hated wife based on his real-life hated wife. In this book, she dies in a car accident and he spends a few pages celebrating that his marriage is finally over. In real life, the hated wife died in a car accident, after a lengthy and explicit scene in which he beats her up and threatens to murder her (then spends a few pages celebrating).
There was one moment in the book that genuinely cracked me up but who cares? Otherwise I felt like I'd read this before, and better, in The Love Affairs of Nathanial P. Like in that book, this dude cannot fathom why he makes women so unhappy, he's such a good guy; unlike in that book, any animosity the author has for the protagonist of My Life as a Man is self-loathing and its attendant narcissism. This book starts with two different short stories, basically differently-fictionalized versions of the same story, and then it's like these short stories were written by the main character of this book isn't he talented?
I really can't imagine a world where I'd ever recommend this book to another person.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Homophobia, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Incest, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Biphobia, Bullying, Violence, Death, Excrement, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Sexual content
emmastia's review against another edition
3.0
Roth is a great writer and while many of the characters were annoying, I still wanted to keep going thanks to the terrific writing.